Diana's Art life

Copic markers are amazing and magical.. but one bad thing about them is that they do dry out and die rather fast compared to other color types (color pencils and watercolors last a lifetime!) and they’re quite expensive so that’s a big downside to them. BUT, a copic refill costs about as much as a full marker and can refill about 6 times or more! So it is a very good deal! (but when you think that you’re gonna need a separate refill for each color… that sounds like a lot of refills eh?)

Anyways, today I’m gonna show you how to refill copic markers. What you’re gonna need is the dead copic marker, the refill of the same shade, a cone/needle thing, and the tweezers (all are made by COPIC and sold by them)

The color I’m refilling is #100 black.

First thing you have to do is open the marker from the broad side (less likely to get damaged), get the tweezers, and pull up that broad tip. Don’t be scared! It’s all good.. it’s meant to be done this way.

This is how it will look like.

Then get the needle thing and put it in the marker (where you took out the broad tip). Don’t push the needle in too hard! Just let it rest there and pour the ink and it will flow by itself inside the marker. I’d suggest that u put in about 3 units (little lines on the refill bottle). Pouring in too much ink will cause some ink leakage from the other (bottom) side of the marker and it might cause a mess! So be careful.

When you’re done from that just pick up the broad tip and put it back in place. Let the marker rest horizontally for a bit so that the ink can flow to the broad tip side of the marker, and you’re done! The marker is now good as new ;)

One last extra step is cleaning the needle… you’re gonna need the colorless blender ink refill. Pour it in the needle while holding a tissue on the other end of it to clean up the needle from the ink and make it usable for other color refills.

I personally bought mine from several websites online 5~6 years ago and I don’t remember any… but I know they’re sold in amazon, copic official website and several others, just search and find one that ships to your country.

as for Kuwait residents, copics are sold in Arts Centre Central and this is their phone number 22409288 and their website www.artcentrecentral.com . there’s also an instagrammer who sells them for a good deal @otaku_dream and this is his phone number 99915547 (but to be honest I didn’t buy copics from either sellers)

2. what kind of paper suits copic the best?

definitely copic bleedproof marker pad.

of course there are many others that work with copics nicely but you’re gonna have to try and test how it bleeds and blends on them. regular printing papers don’t work, and thick watercolor papers will suck all the ink and the marker will dry up and die quickly.

3. which copic markers do you like the most?

copic sketch because of the brush tip. it’s PERFECT for blending and for the skin and hair and folds and EVERYTHING.

(copic ciao also have the brush tip so it would do the same job)

4. what sets do you have? which ones do you recommend?

I have copic sketch 72 set A and B, and about 30 indiviually bought copic sketch markers.

I can’t recommend one over the other because it depends on your drawing and coloring style and your needs. I noticed that set A has more vibrant colors and B is softer.

5. how many shades do you use for the hair?

usually about 3~4

6. how do you shade/blend colors?

I’m gonna have to make seperate blog posts and videos to show that.. hopefully I’ll do that soon.

7. do we need to buy the whole collection?

of course not! you can buy individual markers depending on your drawing and characters.

8. what should I use to outline the drawing?

sadly pencils and ball point pens don’t work with copics. you’re gonna have to use waterproof inking pens (the ones by copic and yoken worked perfectly with me) but make sure you give it some time to dry completely! and make sure to test and see how it works with you before applying it on your drawing.

9. what other important items that I have to own when I use copics?

just proper papers and inking pens.. other than that it’s all just extras

10. what are the types available?

the ones I know of are copic original, sketch, ciao, and broad. my favorite is the SKETCH type.

11. what’s the proper way to layer colors?

I personally prefer light colors first and then dark.. but it’s up to you to experiment and maybe you disagree with me.

12. do you use another type of colors with them?

usually no, but I do like to use a white colored pencil to help me with highlights sometimes.

13. are they expensive?

YES! sadly. how much they cost depends on the place you want to buy them from.. the price varies a lot.

14. promarkers/prismacolor VS copics?

copics win all the way (at least for me). I prefer the brush tip and the ink of the copics.

15. why do you love copics?

it gives a very vibrant clean finish to the drawing.. most people think it’s a print of a digital drawing. they’re also relatively easy to use.

these are the tips of the SKETCH type هذي أنواع طرف القلم (الفرشة)
brush tip.. I love it because of the way it bends it just makes blending colors so much easier! and it’s so perfect for doing the hair and skin and everything. هالجهة وايد احبها.. وايد عجيبة لدمج الألوان بالشعر والبشرة و كل شي

hello everyone! this tuttorial is about preparing your chalk pastels and using them to create the soft airbrush effect.

these are the chalk pastels I use. they’re by Winsor&Newton and they’re called Artists’Soft Pastels. I like these because the pigments are strong and they show well.

pick your colors, remove the paper wraps, and get a cutter (or a different sharp edge of your choice). scrape off the chalk pastel from the sides using the cutter till you get a nice soft powder. try to not create chunks of chalk because that could ruin the soft effect when you use it.

for storing I like to put the powder in these little plastic containers. you can prepare large amounts of chalk powders for future use to prevent creating a mess everytime.

here I used this powder using 3 different brush types and sizes. each one creates a different effect and density of color.

These Daler-Rowney watercolors were my first real watercolors.. I still use them and they’re still far from running out. But there are some colors (a green and a brown) that just won’t get dilluted with water! I don’t know what’s their problem.

and close ups of the green and brown colors that won’t get dilluted الألوان الي ما يذوبون

Then I bought these cotman watercolors tubes because I was so curious about them. There isn’t much of a difference between the tubes and the regular ones in my opinion, except that since the tubes are already liquid-y, they can be used for more intense coloring faster without having to wait for the colors to get dilluted with water. When the colors dry on the palette, they turn into the exact same thing as the regular ones, just not in little square pans.

the watercolors on the palette. this one shows the color fresh out of the tube. الألوان على الباليت.. جذي صاير اللون أول ما يطلع من العصارة

this one shows the colors dry, and how it’s like after putting water on it to dillute it again. و جذي شكله لما ينشف.. و لما تردون تذوبونه بالماي

And then I saw this super adorable tiny set of cotman watercolors in pans. They’re just perfect! except that this set does not include a black… solution is easy: get a black watercolor tube and squeeze a bit on the other side.